Ryan Martin Punches His Ticket to NCAA Championships

AUSTIN, Texas--Ryan Martin blazed through the 800m semi-finals on Saturday to qualify for the NCAA Divsion 1 Championships June 6-9 at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Martin had the second fastest time, crossing the finish with a time of 1:47.49. Ricky West of the University of Missouri had the fastest semi-finals time at 1:46.65.

Mitchell Haag matched his lifetime best clearance in the high jump at 7-1.5 but missed qualifying for the finals by one scratch on his first attempt at 6-8. Hagg finished 13th overall out of a talented field of 37 competitors.

The men's 4x400m relay team ran 3:10.47 in preliminary round action, finishing 7th in heat one. Justine Diaz finished 16th in the 800m semi-finals with a time of 2:07.98. Andrea Jacbos crossed the line in 10:58.39 and finished 40th in the preliminary round. Barbara Nwaba crossed the line in 13.61 in the 100m hurdles during Friday's preliminary round but did not qualify for the finals. Nwaba however, is still ranked number two in the NCAA in the heptathlon event which has automatically qualified her to compete in the NCAA Championships in Des Moines. Decathlete Derek Masterson will also compete in the NCAA Championships who qualified with his score of 7,558 and ranked 19th in the NCAA.

In the field events, Irene Kujore threw 152-9 to finish 33rd out of 42 competitors in the discus preliminaries. Alex Umstead finished 33 out of 46 competitors in the hammer throw event, tossing 188-8.